TAGS

Alex Honnold: Triple Crown Solo

"Wow! Just finished covering one of Alex Honnold's most epic adventures for REEL ROCK 7 - The Solo Triple Crown in about 18 hours. Watkins, El Cap, and Half Dome, 90% free solo with a little bit of aid. Yesterday he started up Watkins at 4PM and topped out in 2:20, a speed record in itself. Next was The Nose, in 6 hours, in the dark. He forgot his chalk bag and had to borrow one from aid climbers half way up. Topped out Half Dome at 10:45 this morning. Here he is looking worked on the summit an hour ago. "OK," he finally admitted, "that was a big deal."

This particular trio of formations has only been climbed twice, as a team of two, in under 24 hours. Dean Potter and Timmy Oneill completed the trifecta in 2001 with some aid. Alex and Tommy just free-climbed these three routes in a day about 2 weeks ago. Doing it solo is outrageous and an unbelievable accomplishment. For some perspective, the previous speed record on the South Face of Watkins was Alex and Tommy two weeks ago with a time of 2:40. Alex shaved 20 minutes off of that by himself. When Tim and Dean did it in 2001, Watkins took 5:15.

The solo record for the Nose goes to Honnold as well. Not for this ascent but a 2010 ascent in which he climbed it in 5:50. He pulled it off in about 6 hours this time, after climbing Mt. Watkins.

The solo record for Half Dome also goes to Alex for his ascent last week in 1:22.

Any one of these achievements alone is outstanding. Stacking them back to back...amazing. Look forward to seeing the footage in the 2012 Reel Rock Film Tour.